1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to futons, and more particularly to a futon having platform members that may be nested together.
2. Description of Related Art
A futon frame may be packaged, for example, for transportation from a factory to an end user. In this regard, the futon frame may be a knocked-down and ready-to-assemble item intended for customer assembly. The futon packaging technique may take into account a couple of considerations. First, from a freight cost stand point, it may be desirable for the futon frame to be packaged efficiently (e.g., using a small carton or box, for example) for bulk transportation. Second, from the customer's stand point, it may be desirable for the futon frame to be easy to assemble.
These two considerations (e.g., efficient packaging versus ease of assembly) may be in conflict with each other. On the one hand, a small package with numerous loose parts and/or fasteners (e.g., screws, pins, nails, etc.) may result in more assembly work for the end user. On the other hand, a fully assembled frame may be shipped in a comparatively large package, and therefore may result in higher freight costs.
A futon frame may be packaged into two cartons or boxes, for example. A first box (or “arm box”) may contain the arm portions (or side-panels) of the futon frame. A second box (or “body box”) may contain platforms and connector rails (which connect the arm portions together).
The body box may contain a variety of frame platforms (e.g., a seat platform, a back platform, and/or an extension platform). Each of the frame platforms may include slats that sup port a futon mattress. The slats of the seat platform and the back platform may be of a uniform or substantially uniform length so that the seat and the back platforms may be of similar or substantially similar widths (e.g., taken in a longitudinal direction of the slats). As a result, the seat and the back platforms may not be arranged in a nesting fashion.
The back platform may have side rails that extend beyond the width of the back platform. These side rails may result in the body box having an extra space to accommodate these extended side rails. However, the space in the body box between the side rails may remain unoccupied. Thus, according to some conventional packaging techniques, the side rails of the back platform may be left off (and separately packaged) at the factory and prepared for customer assembly.
The seat platform may have a length (from side to side) that is shorter than the length of the back platform. Notwithstanding, the seat and back platforms may not be arranged in a nesting fashion, even if the side rails of the back platform are removed.
Furthermore, the seat and the back platforms may include under-slat supports, which may be (for example) 1″×2″ strips of wood running along the length of the slat. Such under-slat supports may interfere with the nesting of the platforms.
In general, there are three types of packing techniques. In a first type, known as a Fully-Knocked Down (FKD) technique, the side rails of both the seat and the back platforms may be left off, and all the under-slat supports may be removed. In this condition, the seat and the back platforms may be nested. This may create the smallest carton size and therefore the lowest freight cost. However, the FKD technique leaves a significant amount of assembly work for the end user.
In a second type, known as a Partially-Assembled (PA) technique, only the side rails of the back platform are left off. This may reduce the overall width of the body box. The side rails of the seat platform are not left off so the two platforms will not nest. The PA technique saves only in the width of the body box, but it does not provide any advantage with respect to the height of the body box. As compared to the FKD technique, the PA technique requires less assembly work by the end user.
In a third type, known as a Fully-Assembled (FA) technique, all of the side rails of the seat and the back platforms and all under-slat supports are in-factory assembled, requiring no extra assembly by the end user. The FA technique creates the largest carton size and therefore the highest freight cost.